This book is an enjoyable read and I find Jack a very believable character. He has many good qualities and is looking to improve himself. However, as a parent and educator, I find many aspects of the book very troubling. Jack's friend digs out a hole between the railroad tracks big enough for a person to lie down in and have the train pass closely overhead. The characters do this several times. It horrifies me that kids will attempt to replicate this stunt and be killed. Additionally, his friend's older brother is memorialized in the story as he died from alcohol poisoning after being very depressed. Jack remembers this as he drinks his mother's cooking sherry becoming drunk and invincible. Jack is depressed, talks about death, jumps off a ladder and this is when he for the first time gets in the hole between the tracks and lets the train pass over him. The author brought up many true to life circumstances that could have served as great teaching tools. However, the characters never see that what they have done is particularly wrong and there certainly are never any consequences for their many wrongful acts. Some of these wrongful and many times dangerous acts include trespassing, stealing mail (a felony), placing objects on the tracks which then become projectiles, disregarding the police who have notified them of escaped convicts, and accidental, but preventable deaths of three cats.

I enjoyed Jack on the Tracks. As always, Gantos creates a fun mix of humor and tragedy (read Jack's Black Book, the best in the series). To address one reviewer's comments: yes, Jack does accidentally kill his cats often. However, the book's approach isn't heartless. I recall Jack tried very hard not to cry in front of his family at the death of his pet. Writing about the death of household pets isn't neccesarily cruel. I don't think Gantos meant to include the subject matter as comedial; he probably found it realistic. How often does a pet-owner lose his pets to accidents? Probably not as often as Jack, but you see my point.

That said, read the book.

If you know a reluctant reader in the 10-12 year old age bracket, this is the perfect title to change their mind about books. As a teacher, I've watched sixth grade boys (girls too!) snort and literally fall out of their chairs in fits of laughter over this one--for some it is the first book they have truthfully read cover to cover. No skimming. No fake reading. Pure enjoyment. Comprehension shoots up dramatically for these kids. They can't wait to meet to talk about Jack. They'll gladly reread their favorite misadventure to a friend--and with new found fluency. You can't imagine how wonderful it is to see your weaker readers standing in line for lunch saying, "Did you get to the part yet where . . . That book is SO funny!" Jack is their hero, living out their secret fantasy, when he drops a cockroach in the mouth of his sleeping sister.

Having said that, I feel I must address the concerns of the other educators who have written reviews here. Yes, Jack pulls a few stunts that might raise an eyebrow. He may not be a top-notch role model, but this is why children love him. He has a Bart Simpson type appeal-- slightly deviant, but lovable, and he often DOES suffer from the consequences of his poor judgement. Teachers who feel this is inappropriate because a child might immitate these episodes are not living in the same world as their students. This book is like an installment of the Wonderful World of Disney compared to the video games, movies, magazines, and regular television most children are entertained by for hour upon hour. You can't sanitize everything for children--what a pleasure killer. And I have NEVER met a twelve year old child who thought it would be safe to lie down in front of a train. Sit down and ask one if you are not sure. Reading should be fun--children do not have the same taste in books as their middle-aged, well-intentioned teachers.

I actually had this woman as a teacher while earning a master's in creative writing. She made my class read her book, and after that moment I lost all respect for her not only as a professor, but also as a writer. Her writing is stiff, unintelligible, and monotonous. Her metaphors are feeble and floppy. Her slight attempts at being humorous are dull are forced. It is, quite frankly, an embarrassment as a writer, that works like this are even published. Don't waste your time.

I've read all of Mayerson's fiction, and, without a doubt, this is a great book. She has changed her writing style and her subject matter with each novel, and this one proves this writer can "bang them out" like no one else. Great for the historical backdrop; great for the story-line.

Same old story. Gullible boyfriend (a doctor,if you can believe that) kills wealthy husband. The women with their stunning looks and money lead all the men around by their johnsons. Nothing what so ever to distinguish Levine's version of it from all the rest. BORING!

A real gem. First rate if you like humor, action and something more... Better than Hiiasen.

This book, being a memoir, barely begins to tell the story of Robert Frost in Florida. His time in Key West is given extremely short shrift, and no mention at all is made of his important friendship with Florida's own Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. The Frosts were treasured dinner guests at Cross Creek before Mrs. Frost's death; Mr. Frost alone visited Marjorie in St. Augustine and Van Hornesville, NY. I don't know how Muir missed this connection except that she was focused on his Miami ties. But in that case, the book should be called "Frost in Miami."

Still, for Frost afficianados, this book is a fix. Contains much personal information about his rotten personality, but most of us have heard that before. If you had written "Stopping by Woods," you would have a right to be a so-and-so sometimes.

Ralph Angel can be remembered as a poet who was not afraid to be seedy and romantic. His verbal painting of the cityscape is a talent that is real and genuine. 'It Takes Practice To Get Lost' is a splendid line. Angel does get lost in Neither World and I wish I could have gotten lost with him.

vraisemblance takes a beating when jake lassiter resorts to show tunes & psychological tap-dancing to stave off certain death at the hand of an uzi bearing reincarnated hawaiian god.not levine's best, though still entertaining. average.

This book is a little bit more accurate than "Blue Thunder" but it is still not all true, nevertheless it is still a good read. I have been in the boat business in south florida for many years and know most of the key figures in the book, therefore I can tell you Mr. Harris's motive for Aronow's death is not accurate. Aronow's killer was never caught.

I too read "Danziger's Travels" before reading this and was charmed and entertained by that story. Apparently the modest success of that book has lead Mr. Danziger to consider himself a world class pundid. His tired clichés and platitudes are served up here time and again as if they were keen insights.

I was very disappointed in the first half of the book to find Mr. Danziger reeling off the, almost canonical, list of disparaging opinions that modern Brits hold of Americans: that Americans are crass, materialistic, totally ignorant of anything happening outside their borders. But the real topper is the one about America's gun laws rendering it some kind of non-stop wild west cowboy shoot out. All these opinions are trotted out with smug delight and treated like they were gospel. Perhaps British school children are given this book to read in order to educate them about Americans. It would certainly explain a lot. I've talked to a number of British people in chat rooms and on ICQ in the last 3 years, and its stunning how they parrot the same self-righteous, uninformed opinions over and over.

I began reading this book in good faith, and I made it almost half way through before I realized that very little real content was being presented. I realized that I was being sold a bunch of lines that even Alan Alda in M*A*S*H would have blushed to speak.

Mr. Danziger condemns American plutocracy, but that doesn't stop him from taking money from it. Mr. Danziger condemns America's role in poverty and war and oppression in the world, but he says very little about his own country's, and western Europe's, complicity.

This book became almost unreadable for me about half way through. This was part way through the "Kabul Fightning Season" section of the book, the supposed "meat" of the book. This section was padded (as was much of the rest of the book) with vacuous sociological commentary. He moans on and on about the horrors of war and the crushing povery war brings as if this is something new, or that this is something the reader might otherwise miss. By not letting the facts speak for themselves, Mr. Danziger really insults the intelligence of his readers. Anyway, I bravely plodded on, sometimes only choking down one or two pages a day, until I finished.

This book reminds me very strongly of something I read about Christopher Hitchens lately. Hitchens actually is a world class pundit, but the edge had come off of some of his writing lately, so a commentator noted sadly that he had become a "saloon-bar bore".

"Danziger's Travels" was a charming boyish adventure story. Mr. Danziger is anything but charming or boyish in this outing.

Oh, as a minor side note, I note here (and in the "Travels" book as well) the new practice the British have of publicly bragging about their romantic exploits. I wonder if Mr. Danziger realizes how silly he looks when he clutters up his book with such bragging?

So, at the end of the day, I would have to say that the only real interest that this book would hold is to give a pretty comprehensive catalog of the species of modern day British arrogance and prejudices. Not an "adventure", but a litany of misery.

A sequel to Nick Danziger's original story of travels through Afghanistan and other foreign lands, the book was unmoving. This work seems to be an attempt to capitalize on the limited success of his previous work but fails to capture the excitement or imagination of a true journey.

I've read this book twice and throughly enjoyed reading it.

I think some of the other reviewers were a little harsh, particuarly the gentleman from the United States, who states that Danziger is of the opinion that "Americans are crass, materialistic, totally ignorant of anything happening outside their borders".

I think that the reviewer has a personal axe to bear, but I would say that this opinion is shared by many people throughout the world.

Unfortunately, many Americans are ignorant of world Geography. Many Englishman on visiting the US are asked, "where is England is that near Great Britain". This doesn't inspire confidence coming from the worlds only super-power.

Passport ownership is low in the US, and relatively few Americans have visited other cultures etc.

Please encourage all Americans to travel and perhaps to learn a little more about the world, if they are going to dictate Global policies. This is perhaps the message that Mr Danziger was trying to get across.

The US ain't perfect.

I've been a Dolphins fan since 1983 and this book was not a fun read at all. The author went into too much description for some of the games played during the season, which made me a little bored. There wasn't that much behind the scenes footage because most of what was said in the book was said on ESPN on a daily basis.

Yes, many of the same stories were reported on ESPN, but the book also has unvarnished stories on players and coaches. It pulls no punches in telling WHY a player was cut.

For those of you who are devout Dolphins fans, this great book gives you an inside look at Jimmy Johnson's first year on the job. Reading it, you will remember a lot of the games from that year, and soon learn of what happened before and after the game. A must read if you love the Dolphins!!!

I have read quite a few Robin Cook books and have enjoyed most of them, but not this one. I gave up on it after about 120 pages. I just could not get into this one. The story bored me and so did the characters.

It starts out OK, but goes downhill once it gets going. The main character of this book is a PSYCHO, who appears to have a total lack of judgement. His girlfriend is an annoyingly unassertive character who simply follows him around saying, "Sean, are you sure this is a good idea? I don't want to do this, this is going too far, blah blah blah" before giving in and going along with it anyway. All of the characters are inconsistent, the plot isn't all that interesting, it's very unrealistic, and the writing is just plain bad. Not recommended.

Realmente no es el mejor libro de Robin Cook que he leído, pero es bueno, con una historia ágil e interesante que mantiene al lector ávido de seguir leyendo.